“The Price is Right” is an awesome TV Show. Whether it’s Bob Barker or Drew Carey, the beloved show has captivated the American audience for over four decades. The exact opposite of what this 2020 Philadelphia Eagles season has been, following their dismal 27-17 loss to the Giants on Sunday.
Doug Pederson, “Come on Downnnnnnn” to the Head Coaching hot seat.
Don’t get me wrong, Doug is not 100% the reason for how poorly the Eagles have looked. It’s not his fault the coaching staff was chosen by Howie Roseman. It’s not Doug’s fault the Eagles have had an awful draft pedigree. And it’s not Doug’s fault the team is in salary cap hell for multiple years.
But he is a main reason the team has looked so bad in 2020.
Here are four main reasons why Doug Pederson needs to be on the hot seat.
1. Eagles are struggling vs NFC East opponents
Since Doug Pederson took over the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016, the Eagles have been excellent within the NFC East. Division Champions within two of those four years and three playoff appearances with two different QB’s show just how good the head honcho has been.
In 2020, it’s been the exact opposite.
The NFC East saw three of its’ four teams hire brand new coaching staffs. Doug Pederson was the only returning Head Coach in the division. The thought would be that it would be a massive edge for the Eagles.
Instead, Doug has been out-coached by all three of the newcomers in the division.
We can clearly put blame on Jim Schwartz as well because the Eagles defense was just as horrid on Sunday.
But Jim Schwartz is not the Head Coach of this team. They have put up less than 24 points in all four division games. They got to 20 points twice – and barely. That is ALL on Doug Pederson being outcoached.
2. In-Game Decisions
In 2017, the Doug Pederson made all the right calls. Every time he needed to be aggressive or pulled a gamble – it seemed to work. That’ll go down in history…because well..you know…
In 2020, every gamble seems to have blown up in his face. No call was bigger than a decision that perplexed almost everyone watching on Sunday.
Down by four, with plenty of time left in the game, the Eagles were a PAT away from cutting the Giant lead to three points – a field goal away.
Instead, for some reason, Doug chose to go for two and it blew up in his face. Wentz took a sack and it forced the offense, which had struggled all game, to go for a TD instead.
Then there is the decision to start Sue Opeta on Sunday against a vastly improved Giants defense. Instead of potentially putting Mailata back at tackle and Peters moving to Guard, like the expectation was for this offseason, Pederson decided starting a practice squad player instead.
Even worse? He doubled down on it.
Then there’s this doozy:
Travis Fulgham wasn’t targeted much on Sunday, and Doug didn’t call any plays to really get him open – the Eagles top receiver this year. So then, a day later, Doug thinks playing the oft-injured Alshon Jeffery will be the answer.
Seriously there are so many clips of in-game decisions that can make peoples heads explode.
3. Eagles Locker Room Chemistry
It seems that every time the Eagles have been in trouble over the last three years, Doug Pederson’s ability to rally the locker room has ultimately helped the roster get to the postseason. Last season Orlando Scandrick’s comments once he released changed the locker room outlook. Doug got the team to rally around practice squad players and the Eagles won the division. As PSN founder Liam Jenkins points out, his “emotional intelligence” has kept the team afloat.
This year – the team can barely get up to play for a divisional game that could’ve distanced themselves in a very bad division.
We can blame player execution all you want. Fast starts are indicative of how a coach gets his team up to play, and Doug has not done his job with that.
4. Play-calling Confusion
Probably the worst part of Sunday’s game was the confusing playcalling. Last season Carson Wentz was the best QB outside of the pocket. On Sunday, Doug just decided that playing to Carson’s strengths was not good enough.
Or how about his dutifulness to the run? Miles Sanders and Boston Scott ran for a combined 150 yards. That’s great execution!
Deciding to run both men 18 times combined? Awful.
The question of “Why are the Eagles so afraid of running the ball consistently?” has been one the team has had for decades. Andy Reid struggled with it, and Doug has done it as well. But it’s the bland playcalling in the passing game, coupled with a head-in-the-sand approach that has caused this team to struggle as much as they have.
Doug Pederson is not the sole reason for why the Eagles are bad this year. When he stood on the Rocky Steps and claimed that the Super Bowl title in 2017 season was going to be a “new norm” for the Eagles franchise.
The “new norm” has been mediocre play and bad coaching. Philly fans deserve better, and if things don’t improve, DougieP should absolutely be held as accountable as we hold Howie, Wentz and Schwartz.
Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire
